Tag: Special Operations

Facing a concerning shortage in special operations personnel, the U.S. military grapples with the reality that, despite the high costs and rigorous standards of training, fewer young Americans are stepping up to join the elite ranks, possibly due to growing societal comfort and diminishing physical and mental aptitude.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley was in Brussels to speak at a gathering of NATO commanders. There he said that the U.S. wants to reduce its footprint in Africa. Meanwhile, France’s President Emmanuel Macron was hosting a conference of the G5 nations (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) […]

Becoming a Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) is no easy task. The SWCC selection pipeline is designed to weed out the weak and to create a training environment that simulates the stressful conditions that are experienced in real-world situations. If an individual is not physically and mentally prepared, they have very little chance to […]

On August 2, 1964, four North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the destroyer USS Maddox (DD731). This did not turn out well for the North Vietnamese. Between American guns and air support, one NV patrol boat was left dead in the water with the remaining badly shot-up. The Maddox took a few machine-gun hits. In spite […]

Suspected Islamic militants attacked a Nigerien military base in a two-pronged assault on Thursday that left at least 25 soldiers dead. Government forces killed 63 jihadists and destroyed several motorcycles.  The attack took place in the town of Chinagodrar, which sits seven miles from Niger’s border with Mali. Although no one has taken responsibility for […]

After the Iranian missile attack on the joint U.S./Iraqi bases, many are wondering what happens next. And then, will the U.S. still be forced to leave Iraq, after Iraqi lawmakers passed a non-binding resolution to kick out American troops from the country?  First of all, some of what will transpire will have to do with […]

Well, in an earlier piece, I tried to tell you that open war with Iran is a really, really remote possibility. Now we’ll flip-flop it a bit (that’s the beauty of the internet) and assume that war between the United States and Iran isn’t only possible, but we will attempt to outline how it might […]

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have created a new combat force that they are calling the “Multidimensional Unit” and are assigning soldiers from across the military to it. According to the Israelis, this combined unit is the first of its kind in the world. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the IDF’s Chief of Staff, ordered the […]

Once Eugene Stoner, designer of the AR-15/M-16 series of combat rifles, left Armalite Corporation in the early 1960s, he decided to design a unique weapons platform that used a common receiver around which a family of small arms could interchange. Such a commonality would enable it to transform into a rifle, carbine or light machine gun […]

On Sunday night, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) hit Iranian bases inside of Syria with airstrikes. Syrian air defense units have claimed to have shot down one of the missiles launched from Israeli aircraft outside of Aqraba. No casualty figures have been released. Both media and civilians have also reported that explosions could be heard […]

Details are sketchy right now, but the Pentagon has acknowledged that an American soldier was killed on Monday in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already taken credit for a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province, where they claim the attack took place. They also tweeted a picture of the killed soldier’s ID card. The Pentagon doesn’t […]

Women and men are becoming more integrated across the Department of Defense (DoD), particularly in the regular infantry, which is a reversal of the traditional structure throughout the U.S. military’s history. Women can do amazing things. They have graduated from Ranger School; passed the excruciating Marine Corps Basic Reconnaissance Course; and now graduated from the […]